Principaltrumpet

I am playing the Planel in a recital this coming semester. The second mvt has such a beautiful melody and flowing lines. I feel that you cant hear the real beauty of the music and instrument when playing it as written with a st mute during almost the entire piece.

I am curious as to what people think about playing it with out the mute. As a performer do I have a certain amount of responsibility to the composer to play what he wrote, or as a musician should about be aloud to play it with my interpretation and what I hear? I know David Hickman recorded this with out the mute...I also know John holt has this on his upcoming cd and I have been told he uses the mute?

Any thoughts?
Josh

TheRiddler

As a young artist... I think it is essential to be able to play a 'standard' version of the piece, precisely as the composer wished... However, over time, you might play this down the road, and think, "hmm... i wanna try this without the mute"

The main thing is that you make a clear decision with what YOU, the artist, want it to sound like from a purely musical stand point. Conceptualize the sound you want in your head....

That said... LOL, if it calls for a mute, 99% of the time, I'd use it. ;)

Khora

To me, the important questions are, first: "Why did the composer ask for this?", and second "How to I best bring that to life?"

Often a composer will ask for a mute because they are looking for a change in timbre. The mute choice is quite subjective - they don't know all the possibilities. Heck, even we don't all know all the possibilities!

What mutes have you tried? How many others do you have access to? Play several different ones with someone else listening from across the room. The projection may actually be quite different than your ear tells you.

That said, it might also be possible for you to achieve a timbre change without a specific mute - playing into the stand, into a cloth bag, into a piece of felt, facing away from the audience. It depends on the effect you are trying to achieve. Play around with the whole concept.

And remember, no performance is the "only" way to do it. Pick one way for this performance in this space and commit to it. At a different time, in a different space, with other thoughts on your mind, you may choose to do it differently. That's why live performances are so much fun!

Best of luck,

Sandy

jbowman1993

I have always found that it is good to try to balance my own artist sensibilities (or insensibilities?) with the job of being an adovcate for the composer, and his vision of the work.